BYD Shark 6 2025 Review

Pricing for the 2025 BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid 4x4 ute won’t be announced until October 29 when it officially goes on-sale, but around $60,000 plus on-road costs is being strongly touted.

Until at least April 2025 that price will make it eligible for the FBT exemption, which can reduce the overall cost.

Combined with a long equipment list we’ll deal with shortly, that means the Shark 6 stacks up very well on the price/equipment equation with key rivals. Essentially, it comes in at Ford Ranger XLT pricing with Ranger Platinum gear (a vehicle with a starting price around $20,000 higher).

What we have to wait and see is where the pack of following PHEV utes lob on price and equipment, starting with the GWM Cannon Alpha Hi4T and the Ford Ranger PHEV.

At this stage BYD is offering only a single highly-specified model called the Shark 6 Premium, with first deliveries slated for December 2024 or January 2025. A lower-priced and equipped model may come later, but that is not officially confirmed.

At the heart of the Shark 6 is a plug-in hybrid powertrain BYD dubs DM-O (dual-mode off-road), which comprises a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine, an electric motor on each axle and a 29.5kWh LFP battery pack mounted into the traditional ladder frame chassis.

The combined outputs are up to 321kW and 650Nm (in sport mode only) and except for eco mode when the rear motor shuts down, this vehicle is variable all-wheel drive all the time.

There are no low range gears, no differential locks and not even a live rear axle. Instead it rides on independent double wishbone suspension. BYD reckons the instant electric torque and traction control ensures the Shark 6 can tackle most off-road obstacles. But it also admits the Shark 6 has been tuned to drive nicely on-road, rather than be a rock star.

Just standing looking at the Shark 6, the exterior doesn’t hint at the powertrain revolution living within. This is a big and bluff modern dual cab measuring up at 5457mm long, 1971mm wide and 1921mm high with a wheelbase of 3260mm.

By comparison, Australia’s most popular ute, the Ford Ranger is – in XLT dual cab form – 5370mm long, 1918mm wide, 1886mm tall and has a 3270mm wheelbase.

The front-end of the Shark 6 is literally meant to resemble the open mouth of a Shark, while there’s also a shark fin antenna.

Other stuff is typical ute.

The BYD logo stamped into the tailgate, the 18-inch alloys, side steps, roof rails and LED headlights. The tub has a spray-in liner, hooks, lights, soft open-and-close tailgate and three power plugs.

These, along with another three-pin plug in the cabin, signify the Shark 6’s vehicle to load (V2L) capability. Up to 6.6kW or 6000 Watts is available courtesy of the high-voltage battery pack to help out, for example, on construction sites or when camping. Essentially, V2L is an inbuilt generator.

The Shark 6 Premium’s interior can be accessed by NFC (Near Field Communication) card, phone, BYD app, remote key, mechanical key and doorhandle switch.

Once inside, a giant rotating infotainment touchscreen is the dominant interior feature. There’s also a configurable digital instrument cluster and head up display, real leather steering wheel trim, synthetic leather seat trim, front-seat power adjustment plus heating and ventilation for the front seats.

A 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system, satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging, dual-zone air-conditioning with rear vents and AM/FM and digital radio bands.

This vehicle will also come with a bunch of apps including Spotify and Amazon Music, over the air (OTA) update capability and a smartphone app that offers remote control for features like lock/unlock, A-C on-off and so on.

In safety terms the Shark 6 is yet to collect an ANCAP rating but the expectation within BYD is five stars.

Standard gear includes auto-braking and adaptive cruise, lane keeping and following, driver and surrounds-monitoring assistance. There are also seven airbags including front-centre, an array of camera views and front and rear parking sensors.

There are few options, four exterior colours and just one black interior trim.

Local Australian experts Ironman 4x4 have been working to develop a host of accessories for the Shark 6 including ADR-compatible alloy bullbars. Later there will be a suspension lift kit.

There is no Shark 6 warranty or servicing information as yet. But we expect a six-year/150,000km warranty for the vehicle, an eight-year/200,000km warranty for the battery, long service intervals and capped price servicing.

Whether the BYD Shark 6 proves to be a sales success or flop, the validity of its powertrain concept is undeniable.

The immediacy and smoothness of the torque delivery renders every diesel ute uncultured and laboured by comparison. This powertrain’s ease of access and use makes the Shark 6 the choice for city and urban driving, whether it be as the weekday work vehicle or the weekend family runabout.

The key to all this? The petrol engine is subsumed to the electric motors as much as possible. To all intents and purposes it mostly drives like an EV. When the engine does kick in to recharge the battery or drive the wheels (above 70km/h and then only sometimes) it does so in a quiet and smooth way.

But this is a multifaceted and somewhat twofaced powertrain, in the best possible way. Yep, you can dawdle around all day in the traffic emitting zero emissions. But when the time comes and you sink the slipper, this thing flies.

Its 5.7 seconds 0-100km/h time is faster than the twin-turbo Ford Ranger Raptor! It’s quite the experience on dirt because traction is immense and response immediate – it just takes off and flies … quietly.

And all achieved with little or no fuel use if you keep the battery charged up.

There is a fair degree of driver control here, too. The powertrain mode (EV, HEV) can be selected or left to do its own thing, there are three on-road drive modes, four off-road drive modes, two steering and two brake modes.

Aiding the Shark 6’s urban driving appeal is an electric-assist steering system that is light and direct in the less sporting of the two selectable modes. It may not be what you want when picking through some rocky trail, but on the street it will work well, helping negate all that length and the broad 13.5m turning circle.

Having said all that, the vast bulk of our driving in these pre-production vehicles was off-road.

Still, the forest roads were despatched quietly and relatively comfortably – BYD says its conducted more than 1.5 million km of testing on 150 Aussie road types with the Shark 6 and it does feel well-sorted.

The main issue was underestimating the speed because the Shark 6 is so quiet and then having to jump on the brakes (discs all-round – nice) it’s hard to avoid launching off a water bar.

We do have some issues we’ll note further along. However, the production tune has moved on from the cars we tested, so more assessment needed.

We did try some moderate cross-axle off-roading to try out the traction control-based 4x4 system and test wheel articulation. Both were able to deal with the challenges. There are four off-road modes that retune traction control to suit different conditions.

Essentially the electric motors are instantly modulated when spin is detected and the disc brakes clamp on afterwards.

Sand mode seemed to work best, sensing wheels were off the ground, clamping them and redirecting drive. Rear articulation was limited but did not stop progress.

Ground clearance is a relatively modest 200mm (Ranger XLT is 234mm), but the only thing we touched down was the towbar.

Again, it’s worth noting these cars actually came with outdated software for the off-road modes, that was due to be replaced after our drive. There was no gravel mode, but apparently that might be included for production.

Hill descent control is also enabled by the front electric motor reversing polarity, so no squealing brakes. It worked well, but only at 8km/h. A software OTA will soon allow speeds to be varied by the driver.

Through all this driving, passengers are being well looked after in the Shark 6.

The high level of equipment has already been mentioned and even taking things like its rotating screen and two-spoke steering wheel into account, this is a pretty orthodox interior. No guitar stings in the door pockets like the BYD Atto 3 for instance.

The front seats are supportive, the rear seat backrests are more reclined than usual for a ute and there is generous space in the rear as well. Both passenger compartments offer plenty of storage opportunities too.

Led by its awesome powertrain, the BYD Shark 6 behaved well during our limited exposure to it. But plenty of questions remained.

Obviously, fuel consumption is going to be one of the key areas where it should gain friends … or not.

The official claim is about 80km zero emissions running when in EV mode, 2.0L/100km when in hybrid mode and the battery state of charge is over 25 per cent. Below that and the claim is 7.9L/100km.

We were able to fossick around in the drive computers of a couple of the Shark 6s on test and the figures were interesting. Over the previous 50km (so the duration of our drive basically, which included some heavy throttle use) one had averaged 15.6kWh/100km and 15.6L/100km.

The other one was on 14.8kWh/100km and 14.8L/100km and for the record, the Shark 6 uses 95 RON fuel and has a 60-litre tank.

Longer term consumption over 9390km for one of the Shark 6s was listed at 11.3L/100km and 2.6kWh/100km.

Over 2667km another one was on 7.0L/100km and 9.3kWh/100km. We wonder which is more indicative of real world use?

The short time spent on-road in the Shark 6, the passive suspension ride-at-speed felt harsh when potholes were encountered mid-corner. Frame shimmy and rear wheel liveliness were familiar ute fare.

The steering at very low speed progressed in steps rather than smoothly. A talented tuner with a laptop will figure that out pretty quickly. And for me, the sport steering mode simply added too much effort.

It was also noticeable the Shark 6 is pretty chatty, advising you to put on your seatbelt, pay attention etcetera. It comes with the usual plethora of bings, bongs and self-steering aids. How intrusive they are and how easy they are to switch off remains to be seen.

The digital information contained in the dash and touchscreen is complex. Again, how quickly it can be learned and how easily it can be accessed is something we are going to come back to.

Then we come to the towing and payload numbers. The Shark 6 claims a maximum payload of 790kg, which is light-on for a ‘one-tonne’ ute and a 2500kg maximum braked towing capacity, which is 1000kg off the best in class.

Combine the hefty 2710kg kerb weight, 5750kg Gross combined Mass and 250kg downball and the Shark 6 comes out with a still acceptable 540kg payload at maximum towing capacity.

The BYD Shark 6 is a gamechanger. It is our electrified future applied right now to one of our most important new vehicle sales segments.

But as tremendously impressive as the powertrain of the BYD Shark 6 is and as keen as its pricing is going to be, there’s still some caution to be exercised here.

There’s a lot of new-tech – at least to Aussies – that’s on offer in a segment of the market where simplicity and relatively basic mechanicals have been the prerequisite.

Clearly BYD has put a lot of effort into the ute’s local testing in Australia and its PHEV tech development now stretches back a decade, so there’s some reasons to be confident.

But it’s so new and different for us and our environment it may be worthwhile to just hang back and see how the BYD Shark 6 behaves on local roads and conditions before diving in.

2024 BYD Shark 6 Premium at a glance:
Price: $60,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: On-sale October 29, deliveries start December/January
Powertrain: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 135kW/260Nm (front electric motor: 170kW/310Nm; rear electric motor: 150kW/340Nm)
Combined output: 321kW/650Nm
Transmission: Single speed reduction gear
Battery: 29.58kWh lithium-ion LFP
Range: 80km (estimated)
Energy consumption: 15kWh/100km (estimated)
Fuel: 2.0L/100km (battery SOC above 25%); 7.9L/100km (battery SOC below 25%) (estimate)
CO2: 46g/km (estimate)
Safety rating: Unrated

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